Amity 2014
by What Does The Faux Say
Summary: It is 2014. Vlad married Maddie, in this world; their son, Daniel, has grown into the scion of the Masters Corporation. By a twist of fate, Sam Manson has become the CEO of a rival company— where a certain Jack Fenton works, still obsessed w/ ghosts. When Vlad sends Danny to spy on his rival, things will grow into a full-scale corporate war— and Amity Park will never be the same.
1. Part 1

**Author's Note: **This story takes place in an AU where Vlad Masters married Maddie Walker, and many other things have changed. It is now 9 years AFTER when the show was set. A quick primer of the characters and setting can be found at: bit*dot*ly/1lNo7gq .

* * *

**Amity Park - Night**

Samantha Manson— Sam for short— clung to the outside of the Masters Tower. A thin ledge ran around the back half of the 55th floor, the side without the panoramic view.

"I've never seen you jump out a window to avoid someone before," her friend Tucker Foley said in her ear. The earpiece was disguised as one of her earrings; Tucker himself was a block away.

"You mean the McSwains?" Sam asked. "They're worse than my _parents!_" She shook her head, tried not to look down. A gentle breeze ruffled the hem of her evening gown. The ledge was only wide enough for her to stand and hang on.

"Oh, right, your I-only-want-true-friends thing," Tucker said over the link. "How's that been workin' out for you?"  
"Hey!" said Sam. "Focus! 23-year-old-not-a-socialite on the side of a _building_ up here!"  
"Oh, right," said Tucker. "Okay. You want to work your way towards and behind the MASTERS sign. There's a catwalk behind the sign, so once you've got there you won't have to worry about falling for a little while." After a second, he added, "Nice view up there, by the way."

Tucker was right; it _was_ a nice view. Amity Park's skyline stretched out through the urban core, skyscrapers slowly stepping down and merging into shops and apartments. The Masters Building towered over it all, a pillar of light in an ocean of flitting stars.

Sam couldn't enjoy the view. Slowly, taking every step deliberately, she sidled to her left. The skyscraper's corner was coming up; edging further, she felt only air under her left hand. She'd have to make her way around the turn, without overcompensating and falling into the night.  
Only now did Sam realize she didn't have a good way to _see_ her footing.

Sam took a deep breath, bringing her left arm in until she could grab the tower's corner itself. She could feel the darkened glass against her back, smooth, daring her to slide just that bit too far. Bracing herself as best she could, she inched her left boot until she felt it slide back.  
Now, it was just a matter of turning the corner.

Sam shifted her arm, switching from grabbing the angle to bending her arm around it. She'd examined the route a week ago. There was a gap between panes of glass on this side. If she could get her fingers in, she'd be safe.

The corner now pressed against her back. Carefully, Sam reached out for the gap. Once she was on the other side of the corner, the catwalk would be just a few feet away.  
Her hands brushed glass. The gap was too far for her to grab. Sam shifted her weight, leaning into the corner that last bit more. She just—

She'd leaned too far. Her right foot slipped. In a panic, she grabbed for the gap— _found it—_ her right arm flailed, felt air— she couldn't breathe— she was falling— _she was falling—_

After a split second of freakout, Sam managed to recover. Drawing her leg in, she stomped down, hoping to find the ledge. She found it; a last-minute grab on the corner stopped her from pitching forward.  
Breathing hard, feeling her adrenaline drain, Sam held on and watched the city lights as her pulse slowed.

* * *

"Uh, are you OK?" Tucker called over the link. "You sound a little out of breath."  
"Tucker..." Sam said back, between gasps, "shut up."  
"If you say so," Tucker said cheerily; then, he did.

Once she was calm again, Sam looked to her left. The catwalk was just a few feet away, blocked at this end by a waist-height railing to prevent an incautious worker from falling. After sidling over the distance, Sam wrapped her arm around the railing, pulling herself over it and onto the thin bridge. The glow from the MASTERS sign lit the path ahead of her; her first hurdle was done.

"I'm on the catwalk," Sam called. "Where now?"  
"Juuuust a moment," said Tucker. The sound of a computer keyboard came through her earpiece. "If I'm reading this blueprint right, you want to go to the other end of the catwalk. Then, the signal's coming from the lab, two floors down."

"There's a ladder, or something there... right?" she asked.  
"Nope!" Tucker said proudly. "I'll tell you when you get there."  
Sam grimaced, then walked to the other end of the sign, behind the giant letter S.  
"Well?"

"Okay," Tucker said. "Have a look down the side of the building."  
Sam looked. A wave of smooth glass came into view, reflecting the neon ocean.  
One pane stuck out. A window, angled outwards to give the room inside some air. If someone fell down the side of the building, the window _could_ conceivably act like a funnel.  
"Oh no. _No_ way. You cannot _possibly _want me to drop down into that thing."

"Hey," said Tucker. "You _could_ always turn around and head back to the party. Which would you say is worse? The McSwains, or a 20-foot drop down the side of a skyscraper?"  
There was a long silence. Finally, Sam said, "All right. You're _sure_ about this?"  
"One hundred percent," Tucker replied. "You just need to fall straight down, then the window'll do the rest. There's nothing that can possibly go wrong."

It was this or nothing. Sam mentally consigned Tucker's head to oblivion, levered herself over the tower-side catwalk railing, and fell.

* * *

It was like flying, for about a second. Then, Sam crashed into the window— and the bar holding the pane up gave way. Sam shrieked, grabbing onto the upper edge of the window pane as it swung outwards. Everything was a blur of gravity... then she stopped.

Sam looked up. She was hanging onto the window frame with her arms. Only its bottom hinge kept the window attached to the building. Some metallic groaning noises hinted that wouldn't be for long.

She looked down next.  
_It's beautiful_, she thought. Below was the glowing void, as Amity Park's inhabitants went about their nightly business. Here was the actual Amity Park, a dark spot in the lightscape; there was the old Axion building, before the Masters Corporation had bought them out. If she squinted, Sam could even see her old high school, its lights dimmed as its teachers went home.  
The wind had gotten stronger. The hinge creaked a little as metal gave way. It would have been poignant, if her life wasn't at stake.

"Sam! Are you OK?" Tucker called. "What happened?" He'd heard the shriek too.  
"What happened?! I— the nothing-can-possibly-go-wrong _window_ broke! If I..."  
She stopped. Above her, in the room she'd been trying to enter, the room lights had come on.  
"Someone's here," she said, looking up at the square of light. Footsteps drifted through the open window. They were getting closer, perhaps attracted by the sudden breeze. Then... whoever-it-was looked out the window.

"Ah, Ms. Manson! What a pleasant surprise!" said the man, gazing benevolently down at Sam. She groaned.  
There, above her, was the smiling, grey-framed face of **Vlad Masters.**


	2. Part 2

**Masters Tower - Night**

Sam, hanging by her hands from the broken window, could only listen as Vlad stared down at her and the 55-story drop below.  
"How _nice_ to meet you here!" said Vlad, with a little chuckle. He leaned his elbow on the window frame, causing the hinge to groan even more. "I'd no idea you enjoyed climbing on the outsides of buildings."

Sam rolled her eyes. She didn't dare move; the hinge creaked on the slightest sway. "Eh, the party was getting boring," she said, trying to sound calm. Mr. Masters was acting rather... erratically.

Vlad spread his hands wide, smiling. "Oh, there's no need to worry!" he said. "I used to climb buildings myself, when I was younger." Vlad closed his eyes, as if remembering something. "It made me feel so... _alive._"

_Just keep pretending you're bored,_ Sam thought. _It's probably safest._  
Out loud, she said "Uh, yeah. Do you think you could let me up? Your tower's pretty tall."  
"Of course!" said Vlad. He reached down, extending his arm out the window. "Take my hand."  
Sam shifted her grip— and the window gave way.

Sam shrieked again. With all the focus she had, she grabbed for Vlad's wrist.  
The window pane fell into the night, reflecting the city lights. It flashed a dozen colors, red, green, blue, white, orange, yellow... and then shattered as it hit the pavement.  
Sam didn't go with it. She'd caught Vlad's hand in a death grip.

"Now, Samantha," said Mr. Masters, above her, "close your eyes."  
"Wait, what?" she said. Why was he asking for that? Now?!  
Vlad smiled and waited politely; after a few seconds with no response, Sam closed her eyes. She didn't have anything to lose right now.

For a second, it felt like she was floating in midair; then, a solid floor was beneath her. Gravity had changed from a menace back to a friend. She opened her eyes.

"I'm sorry about the scare," said Vlad, smiling warmly. "So! To make up for it..." He waved a hand. Through all the room, the lights shifted from dim to full brightness.  
"Welcome to my lab," Vlad Masters said.

* * *

Sam gawked. The room was full of equipment, half-built-devices, and parts. Everything sparkled, except when it was artfully strewn with debris instead.  
Tucker spoke up, in her ear. "Oh wow. I've got your video feed back, and this is _incredible!_ He's got stuff we don't have!"

"Tell me about it," Sam said quietly. If Vlad figured out her jewelry was recording everything for posterity, she and Tucker were both sunk.

"Tell you about it?" Vlad asked. "Ah, I see it's piqued your curiosity. This lab is but one of several in the building. This one usually has a staff of scientists on duty, in the daytime. The more interesting stuff is in the basement, of course, but there's less of a view..."

While Vlad prattled on, Sam quietly and _internally_ gave a sigh of relief. She'd almost slipped up there.  
Tucker decided to take the time to comment.  
"Sam? Okay. The signal from the prototype's coming from this floor. I think it's more towards your left from where you are now. Try and see if you can get closer."

Sam had enough sense not to respond to Tucker, this time. The lab was fairly impressive by itself, and looking around revealed even more rooms branching off from the first one.

"—So," said Vlad, "now that you've seen this corner of my lab, how about the rest? You did say my party was boring, after all."

Gently, Vlad put his arm around Sam's waist and started to lead her towards the next room. Sam dodged out of the grip.  
"Um, _not_ until the second date!"  
Tucker's advice compelled her to add, "I'd like to see the rest of the lab, though."

"Of course. My_ sincere_ apologies," said Vlad, with a mild bow. "Please, follow me."  
There were more rooms. There were more machines. There were strange things beyond description. There were strange things Vlad described. And with every turn they took, Tucker radioed that the prototype was getting closer. Soon, the halls led to a circular chamber right in the center of the 53rd floor.

* * *

The room was walled with lacquered wood, lit by warm track lighting. It didn't look like it belonged in a lab... and all around the wall were doors. "This," said Vlad, "is where I keep all the wonderful things produced in the Masters Tower." After a moment, he added, "This lab's wonderful things, at least." He flung open a door.

In the center of the room was a... thing. A large, blocky device. Only the projected black cube 'floating' above it hinted at the machine's real purpose.  
"Recently, some of my top researchers discovered a few little tricks with bending light. This one's not quite ready for production yet," —for a split second, the cube was an eye-melting multidimensional superstructure—"but, with a little help, I'm sure you'll see something using this technology in a few years..."

Vlad kept explaining his lab's creations, giving Tucker an opportunity to call. He sounded _very_ excited.  
"Sam! The signal's coming from the direction third door on the right, and it's _really_ strong. I think it's right on the other side of the door!"

Time to recover her prototype. Nodding at Vlad's speech, Sam pretended to choose a door at random. "What's behind this one?" she asked brightly, trying the handle of the third door on the right.  
It was locked.

"Ah-ah!" said Vlad, as Sam found the door handle wouldn't budge. "I can't reveal _all_ my secrets... well, not yet, anyway." There was a little chuckle in his voice. "Who knows? When the time comes, you might find something behind that door you've always wanted."

He winked. Sam suddenly realized he wasn't looking at her face. More a bit... down and to the right, at her evening gown.  
Straight at the skull brooch that hid the camera.  
When Vlad noticed her looking, he looked back up into Sam's face, smiled, and gave a little shrug.

It took a second, but she got it. _He'd known the whole time.  
_Vlad Masters had known, or guessed, why Sam was hanging on the outside of his skyscraper (not too hard a surmise, to be sure), then saved her, shown her through the lab, and brought her here— only to mock her with a locked door.

Sam unclenched her teeth, controlled her breath, and affected a smile.  
"Thank you for showing me everything here," she said, keeping herself tense. It was that or yell at Vlad. Let him think she didn't know he knew. "It was _very_ informative." That was true, at least.

"The pleasure was all mine," Vlad responded. "I only hope I have the opportunity to tour your own research hub someday."  
He gestured towards the way back. "Shall we return to my 'boring, uninteresting party'?"  
He offered his arm; Sam ignored it and walked mutely beside him, up the two floors of stairs to the magnificent atrium at the top of the Masters Tower.

Once they were back with the milieu, Vlad had one last parting remark. "Alas, the duties of society call once again. Enjoy the rest of your evening, Ms. Manson."

As he walked away, Sam let out a grunt of frustration— then heard a cheery "Yoohoo!"  
There, waving at her, were the McSwains. As they rapidly walked over to greet her, Sam muttered one word to sum up the whole stupid evening.

"Damn."

* * *

_Note: If this were an episode of the show, the theme song would play at this point._


	3. Part 3

**Eidolon Hill**

It was dark in the dimly lit corridor. Everything was upholstered in dark, warm colors; it was deathly silent. Tucker had to keep himself from tiptoeing through the hallway.

At the far end of the hall was a steep flight of stairs, the carpet plush and red like a vampire's mansion. Tucker's steps made no sound. At the top, the black door stood, featureless; waiting. Taking a deep breath, Tucker reached out and turned the knob.

There was a creak of hinges, followed by a crash of thunder. A flash of light illuminated a figure sitting in an ornate chair, glaring intensely at the intruder.  
The voice boomed, "WHO DARES DISTURB MY— oh hey Tucker!"

Sam Manson pressed a switch to turn on the normal room lights. Behind her, her top-floor view of Amity Park afternoon slowly faded into evening.  
"Hey Sam," said Tucker. "Nice introduction."

Sam grimaced. "There are _accountants_ hunting me," she said.  
"Oh, I get it," said Tucker. It was getting close to April. "You know, they do _say_ that nothing in life is certain but death and taxes... and you certainly have death nailed down."

He gestured around the room. There were no cheery decorations to be found here; Sam's aesthetic sense tended towards the morbid. A rumor around the Hill, which Tucker had never been able to confirm or deny, was that Sam individually interviewed each new hire in this gloomy office.

"Yeah," said Sam, rolling her eyes. "_Any_way, what did you need?"  
Tucker pulled out his tablet and tapped a few icons. "I think I figured out how that prototype got stolen in the first place. Feel like taking a break?"  
"With pleasure," Sam said, getting up from the desk. At her command, a wall panel slid back to reveal an elevator; Tucker and Sam got in and headed downwards.

* * *

"Okay," said Tucker on the way down through the building on the Hill, "I've been going over both systems' footage. None of the motion detectors picked up anything, so that's why I thought that there was no video. But then I saw _this._"

The image on the tablet was a security-camera feed, showing a hallway and a reinforced, barred door. At first, nothing moved. Only a time stamp indicated the video was playing.

Then Sam saw it. A _ripple_ in the air itself. It was only visible as it passed corners and edges, but it was there. And it moved with purpose, with intention.  
"What _is_ that?" she asked.

The elevator gave a 'ding' as it arrived. As they got out, Tucker said, "You're not gonna believe it."  
The underground corridor was reinforced concrete, painted a sky blue. A painted sign on the wall read _Main Lab_, but it had been crudely spray-painted over with "_FentonWorks Lab and Ghost HQ_". Below that, someone had written in permanent marker and much neater handwriting, _(Ignore the Ghost Bit)_.

Tucker glanced at the sign. "You haven't told the big guy about what happened to the prototype yet, have you?"  
Sam shook her head, lowering her voice. "No. I'm not really sure how he'd take it, and if Jack found out that—"

"DID SOMEONE CALL FOR _**JACK**__**FENTON?!**_"

Sam swallowed a grimace, turning. Eidolon Hill's brightest _and_ oddest researcher was standing in the doorway behind her. In six-and-a-half feet of bright orange jumpsuit, he was the biggest, as well.  
"What brings you here today? Here to see the newest FentonWorks has to offer?" He waved at Tucker.  
Tucker waved back, keeping a safe distance. Everyone knew about Jack Fenton. Around Jack Fenton, there were _explosions_.

Jack's lab assistant dodged out from behind him to see what the commotion was. A young woman with bright orange hair, she wore a black-and-teal jumpsuit and an aggrieved expression. Her name tag read, JASMINE.  
"Oh, hey!" she said upon spotting Sam. Her expression suggested she was glad for the break. "What's going on?"

Sam looked at Tucker. He glanced back, grimaced a little, and tried to shrug as unobtrusively as possible."I've got some bad news," Sam said. "Remember the newest invention the two of you came up with, the prototype?"  
"Oh, you mean the Fenton Exhibitiostentationer?" said Jack, boldly. He lowered his voice a little as he caught Sam's tone. "Er... has it exploded?"  
"Not quite," said Sam. "It got stolen."

Dual gasps from Jack and Jasmine. "STOLEN?!"  
"But it was in the Vault!" Jasmine said, gesturing down the corridor. "What happened?"  
"Maybe..." Jack said, his voice growing tight. "Maybe it was taken... by a _ghost!_"

Sam and Jasmine both glared at Jack. "Um, _ghosts aren't real!_" they said, in unison. This came up about once a week.  
Tucker chuckled from beside them. "You know, for once I wouldn't be so sure. Have a look at this." He hefted the tablet again. Everyone looked at the video of the ripple in the air.

"Looks like it's going somewhere, doesn't it?" Tucker asked. "Turns out you can follow it to the next camera..."  
He tapped the screen. The video changed to another feed, showing the other side of the door. The ripple appeared here, too. Darting around, it made its way straight towards the room with the prototype.

"...and the next."  
The ripple passed _through_ the inner door, circled around Jack's invention, then dived at it. Slowly, the Fenton prototype flickered, faded— _and became a second ripple itself._ The anomaly then headed through the wall, and vanished.

"Prowling poltergeists!" said Jack, seeing the image onscreen. He grabbed the tablet away from Tucker. "_It's a real, invisible ghost!_"  
"Well, mostly invisible," Tucker couldn't help saying. He gently retrieved the tablet before it got broken. "Turns out on infrared—"

Jack wasn't listening. "In honor of this occasion, I will now name the first ghost ever to be discovered by Jack Fenton..."  
"You mean by Tucker Foley," Tucker pointed out. Jack started over.  
"The first ghost ever to be discovered by _anyone_, I will now name..." He took a deep breath. "**INVISO-BILL!**"

Silence. An alert buzzer rang from somewhere in the lab; Jasmine left quickly.  
After no one said anything for a few seconds, Jack added, "Be...cause he's invisible. And it sounds like the name 'Bill'. Right?"

Sam shrugged as she thought it over. "It's as good as any other name," she said, slowly nodding. "And now, we've got something we can call him if he shows up again." She looked at the tablet again. "What was that you were saying about infra—"

_**BOOOOOOOOM!**_

A very loud explosion shook 'FentonWorks', and a cloud of smoke drifted out the open doorway. Jack looked nervous. "Hold on just one second... I'll be right back!" he said, dashing into the confines of the lab.

Sam caught Tucker's gaze and gestured down the hallway towards the vault. Jack _wouldn't_ be coming back for a while— this happened often enough for Sam to be sure.

As they walked through the vault door shown in the video, Tucker explained. "See, the reason 'Inviso-Bill' didn't trip the infrared sensors was that they're set up to trigger if they spot something warm. Inviso-Bill is actually colder than his surroundings— a lot colder."  
Tucker switched the video to a view of the heat sensor's output. "So I had a look to see what was causing it, and I saw _this."_

'Inviso-Bill' wasn't a ripple in the air anymore. He was a... a man, at least on the top half. A man with snow-white hair and glowing green eyes. Instead of a lower half, the man(?) had a tail, of the kind you might find on an old-time illustration of a spectre.

_My god... _thought Sam. _All this time, Jack Fenton was _**_right!_**

On the video, the ghost flew through— _through!_— the inner door once again, homing in on the FentonWorks invention. He touched it— and the invention deepened into a cold spot as well, glowing in the infrared view as the ghost lifted it, pulling it up as he flew through the air.  
Right before he and his prize passed through the wall, Inviso-Bill looked back, smiling cockily like he knew the sensor was there.

Tucker paused the video, pointing to the face of the mystery ghost. "And _that's_ our culprit."

Sam didn't answer. She was staring at the grinning ghost, his glowing eyes setting off that smirk.  
"You know..." she said, after a few seconds. "It's funny. But I swear I've seen that face somewhere before..."

* * *

**Meanwhile - Masters Tower**

Vlad and Daniel Masters gazed out over Amity Park: their rightful domain. Vlad rested his arm around Daniel's shoulders.  
"Excellent job, son," he said. He didn't need to say what he was talking about; they both knew. "Now that that buffoon Jack Fenton has made something that actually works for once, we can study it, dissect it, extract all its puny secrets and make them ours!"

Vlad was definitely in a good mood. He turned to look at Daniel benevolently. "You did well," he commented. "Your control over your powers is improving."  
Daniel nodded, smiling in echo of his father. "Thank you, Dad." His gaze shifted up to the brilliant Amity Park sky, its blue masking the stars beyond. "It was rather fun, actually. Just going in there and... _taking..._"

Vlad's smile widened. "You're beginning to understand," he said. "This city— it's _ours_. We can do anything we like. No one will even _annoy_ us." His smile faded for a moment as he remembered something.  
"Well... almost no one."

Daniel knew that look. His Dad was cooking up something big. The last time he'd seen it, it had ended with him and the prototype zooming far away from Eidolon Hill.  
"What is it, Dad?" he asked. "You seem like you're planning something interesting."  
"Nothing _too_ important," Vlad said. "Do you remember a Ms. Manson from the party yesterday evening?"  
It was a rhetorical question. Vlad had made Daniel memorize the executive structure of all the Masters Corporation's competitors. Daniel nodded, his gaze slowly returning to the sky.

"I found her somewhere very interesting last night," Vlad said, removing his arm from Daniel's shoulder and gesturing below. "She was hanging off the side of the Masters Tower, evening gown and all— on the very floor where we've put the device."  
_That_ got Daniel's full attention.  
"What?!" he said, realizing what had likely been going on. "What did you do?"  
Vlad shrugged, bringing his hands together at the fingertips. "I gave her a tour, of course! Stopping just on this side of the door. She's likely tearing her hair out over it, even now."

"Wait," said Daniel. "Is that all you plan to do about it? She'll probably try again."  
"Not quite." Vlad nodded and smiled, pleased to see Daniel's strategic education was paying off. "We need someone to get close to Ms. Manson. To befriend her. To learn her secrets. And _then_..."  
Daniel didn't need him to finish. "Oohhh... you're going to send a spy to her. Who'd you have in mind?"

Vlad's face fell as he realized he'd have to explain this one. "Well, it'd have to be someone we'd find trustworthy. Someone good at keeping secrets. Someone about Ms. Manson's age, it's a friendship thing. Someone she could also, with time, trust." He chuckled a little. "And, most importantly, someone who can come back here without arousing suspicion."  
"But who— _oh_."

"Yes," said Vlad Masters, his grin as wide as the Amity Park skyline. Wish a sweep of one arm, he gestured at Sam's building, dark and brooding on Eidolon Hill.

"You're going to go meet her."


	4. Part 4

The Amity Park Treehuggers' Ball wasn't really a ball, and definitely wasn't the sort of event you'd read about in the tabloids. Each year, a ragtag group of people, of widely varying status, would band together in something like a garden party.

The group would converge on some site that had been environmentally misused, from trash-filled vacant lot to disused industrial building, giving it a complete makeover. They'd remove anything polluting or contaminated; groups would add plants and trees where there had been asphalt and gravel. When it was done, the space would be a breath of air in any corner of Amity Park (and usually became a park itself).

All this was paid for by the richest of the Ball's attendees, who would discreetly add one extra ceremony at the end of the year's project: each signed a large check, to go towards various causes _including_ next year's Ball.

Sam was one of them. Taking a breath of Amity's daytime air, she surveyed the scene from beneath her black sun hat.  
Everything was going well. People in T-shirts and jeans were bustling around. Several groups were each installing individual trees, while a large clump was in the middle of marking out a raised flowerbed. Everything was motion.  
Almost.

There was one young man off to the side, wearing a suit and tie. He seemed as out of place as a fish in a car park, and the lost look on his face only confirmed it. When he saw Sam, he wandered over.  
"Uh... hi!" he said. "I'm Daniel Smith..." His face froze. "_...oh crap it was supposed to be William wasn't it?..._"  
He started over. "I'm Danny Smith. I've always loved really helping the planet!" Hopefully that was enough of a name change.

Sam stared, trying very hard to keep a straight face. She recognized 'Danny Smith'. It was none other than Daniel Masters, scion of the Masters Corporation. Was Vlad trying to play a joke on her? Time to respond and see what happened.  
"That's wonderful!" she said, trying to sound sincere. "Here." Grabbing a convenient shovel, she placed it neatly in "Danny"'s hands. "Glad you could make it. You look like you're ready for some nice, exhausting digging!"

"Wha— _no!_ Er, I mean..." Daniel backpedaled hastily. "Could you, er, show me what to do?" He gestured at the groups of people. "You seem like you'd be really 'in the know'."  
Sam mentally shrugged. No harm in showing him around. And he _definitely_ could use a little exercise. For all his father's grandeur, Daniel Masters was a little bit weedy.

"Now, the slogan of the Treehugger's Ball is: many hands make light work!" She made sure to keep her voice cheery. Daniel was probably a 'Master' at spotting ordinary sarcasm. "So, you want to get a shovelful of dirt..."

Daniel kept his mind off the job by planning his next response. "Many hands make light work, huh?" he said, trying to match Sam's tone. "Maybe I could help with that." He turned some more dirt over. "I've been looking all over for a job." After a second, he remembered to keep up his cover. "I just thought I could stop in when I saw what was going on!"

"That's, er—" It took Sam all she had to keep a straight face. Was Daniel serious? First, there had been the whole... incident at the Masters Tower. Now, Daniel Masters was coming to events she attended, looking out of place and sighing about needing a job. It couldn't be coincidence. _Vlad Masters had sent Daniel to spy on her._

Sam was about to dismiss Daniel outright... then, she had an idea. A nice, horrible, underhanded idea.  
"Sorry to hear about that," she said, finishing her earlier sentence. "Have you ever thought of working on Eidolon Hill?"

If Vlad Masters wanted someone inside her company, he was going to _get_ someone.

* * *

**Eidolon Hill**

"The first thing you need to know is that everyone who works here starts riiiight at the bottom. So to speak," said Sam as she and Daniel walked along the hallway. No one passed them. "With a little diligence, you'll be able to work all the way up to the level of 'soulless office drone'."

"Now," Sam continued, "there's just the matter of the dress code. Oh, Tucker! Perfect timing."Tucker himself came around the corner, carrying a plush folder. 'Dress Code' was inscribed on it in letters of gold.  
"There's a _dress code_?!" Daniel said, suppressing an 'Aw man'. "Hopefully this can't be _too_ bad." He opened the folder.

Sam and Tucker waited while Daniel read what was inside.  
"Suit or... OK, shoes, tie, optional decorative accents... skulls or spiderweb pins? Weird." He flipped the page over, his tone rising with every new line. "Casual Attire... dark colors expected... List of Accepted Event Logos... whaaaa...? weird_er_."  
Daniel glanced up at Sam and Tucker for a second, then turned to the third page.

"Personal Grooming... available hair dyes, blah blah blah, makeup, all non-casual personnel of either gender—" Daniel's voice broke. "_Black eyeliner?!_"

Daniel looked around frantically, only to find the dress code's scenarios were playing out before his eyes. Tucker was in casual attire, rocking a Circus Gothica T-shirt and a pair of pants blacker than the night sky. His hair was up in some sort of tentacular arrangement.  
Sam had made sure to dress to the nines for this. You wouldn't have thought 'business corset' was a thing before meeting her. You'd be wrong. The rest of her business suit kept up the statement, with shades of purple and a little silver bat pin as an accent. The inevitable black eyeliner was only icing on the cake.

Daniel looked at Tucker, who shrugged. Then at Sam, who raised her eyebrows. Then, back at the dress code, trying to reassure himself it wasn't some sort of waking dream.

* * *

"You look better already!" Sam said, admiring the 'new Daniel'.  
"...This is _not_ worth it...", Daniel muttered under his breath. He and Sam stood in front of a basement door, marked 'DEAD LETTER OFFICE'.

"Now, here's your new job," said Sam, unlocking the door and flicking on a light switch.  
Inside the room, there was mail. Lots and lots of mail. It sat in piles on the floor, overflowed bins in heaps, and drifted in corners.  
"Whenever we get something we can't route to someone at Eidolon, it ends up here. Try to sort out what you can. Any junk mail goes into the recycle bin."

"But wait!" said Danny, trying to salvage the situation. He'd never learn anything down here like this! "What about the lab?"  
Sam smiled. Daniel Masters _continued_ to lack the subtlety of his father. "Lab?" she said, turning to leave the Dead Letter Office. "Who said there were any labs here?"  
Propping the door open, Sam briskly walked off and left Daniel to his work.

It was only once the elevator door closed behind her that she (and Tucker, who'd ducked out to retrieve his regular outfit) burst out laughing.

* * *

**Meanwhile**

Deep beneath the Masters Tower, Vlad was struggling with himself. He knew this feeling, this tenseness in the air. It always happened when he was on the cusp of some great thing; when he had done his very first corporate takeover with stolen knowledge, becoming 'Master' of his own corporation. When Danny had been born, in those days before Maddie knew. When, just a few years ago now, he'd set up the large portal in the lab, carefully setting the activation mechanism on a hidden timer. All those times, the air had thickened around him, and he knew change was coming.

He knew it now. And he knew he needed to talk to someone.  
Which was why he was down here.

Only a few people knew this level of the Tower existed. To get here, you had to go to the lowest _public_ level of the tower. One of the janitors' closets had a secret door within, locked biometrically; that led into a secret elevator, leading down into a massive cube of solid steel. The cube was surrounded by a force field (one of the inventions Vlad had kept for himself), and cemented within a larger area of tunneling-resistant compacted earth.  
The only way in or out was through the Masters Tower.

At the bottom level of the elevator, the door opened to Vlad's palm. Once the elevator door closed, a steel panel sealed over it; then, the room he'd entered began to move sideways. Trying to get through here without being inside this room would result in horrible injury at the very _least_. The 'sideways elevator' hung suspended over a gap that stretched all the way down to the cube's bottom wall.

The room stopped moving with a 'ding!'. No doors opened in the far wall. This was the only point anyone could access the rooms beyond— and only then if they had a particular set of talents.  
Taking a deep breath, Vlad closed his eyes, preparing himself to use the ghost powers he'd gained so many years ago. Taking some care not to fall through the floor, Vlad Masters walked through the wall into the rooms beyond.

Vlad stepped into an immense living room. Plush couches and plush carpet created a tasteful décor; a series of ceiling fixtures and shaded 'windows' provided the illusion of natural light. A massive TV was attached to the far wall. Everything was of the highest quality.

No one was in the room, so Vlad moved on. There were other rooms, each as well-furnished as the living room. The bedroom was almost as large as the living room, with more 'natural light'. The dining room was smaller, perhaps cozier, where brushed metal neatly set off the dark wood of the table. In every room, no one was there.

Vlad knew where he had to go, now. Carefully, he entered a staircase branching off from the main living room. Upwards was the exercise room, but he knew no one was up there. Instead, he started walking slowly down, taking the steps one by one.  
As he reached the bottom landing, a blast of energy came straight at him. Concentrating, Vlad turned intangible for a second; it splashed on the metal wall behind him.

"Ah, Maddie," Vlad said, as the woman who'd fired the beam reloaded her newest invention, "how lovely to see you again."

Maddie Masters was shorter than Vlad, several inches under six feet tall. The steaming cannon balanced on her shoulder and her glare were all Vlad needed to read her mood: angry. She was always angry at him, these days.

"Maddie, Maddie..." Vlad said, spreading his arms wide. "No good morning kiss?"  
He ducked to the side as another energy bolt came at him.  
"I'll take that as a no."

Maddie paused for a moment to swap power cells. Her voice was curt, cold, inlaid with fury. "I have _nothing_ to say to you. You think anything's changed after 17 years?"  
Seeing Maddie loosen her grip on the gun, Vlad took the opportunity to fire a mild ectoblast at it, knocking it away. "Of course! Amity Park's grown wonderfully. As has Daniel."

Maddie started to shake, seemingly from fury. Vlad merely grinned. "I have to say, you'd be proud of him. I know it's been hard, not being able to be there for him, but I've done my best to teach him what it means to—"  
Maddie's precisely placed high kick hit Vlad under the chin. Skidding into a desk, Vlad blinked to the left and right to dodge the follow-up hits of the attack chain.  
"Teach him to steal and lie like you?" Maddie said, bracing herself as she planned her next attack. "You're a—"

"Now now, let's not say anything we'll regret," interrupted Vlad. "I've made the Masters Corporation the _king_ of Amity's skyline!" He couldn't resist spreading his arms wide. "All it took was a few strategic nudges. If you'd been able to accept that 17 years ago—"  
Maddie _moved_. Pulling a baton from a side table, she extended it as she wheeled in the air, bringing it down on Vlad's outstretched arm.

"OW!" said Vlad, eyes blazing. Jumping backwards, he took a breath, willing his ghost form to come forth. Black rings swirled up and down his body, remapping Vlad Masters into Vlad Plasmius.  
Once Vlad had set up a shield in front of him, he finished his sentence. "If you'd been able to accept that 17 years ago— why, none of this would have happened. We'd all be the happiest of couples. As it is, the world thinks you're dead, leaving me, the brave single parent, to run a family and an empire."

Vlad hadn't noticed Maddie press the baton into a nearby charger socket while he was talking. It began to glow with green energy.  
"I've even been thinking of remarrying."  
Maddie Masters grit her teeth. In one smooth movement, she swung the baton, breaking through Vlad's ghostly shield. The green energy discharged into Vlad, crackling like lightning.

Plasmius growled at her. From both hands, he fired bursts of energy that rotated to fly straight at Maddie; she jumped over them, aiming to land feet-first on Vlad. Vlad dodged, swirling his cape around himself as the blasts of energy behind Maddie reversed course and came back at her, knocking her baton away.

Maddie had landed near the big gun she'd had when Vlad came in. Hefting it, she fired at Vlad; Plasmius shielded himself again, deflecting the charge away. Before it could hit the wall, Vlad duplicated himself, placing his copy in the path of the beam. As it shielded itself, the second bounce tossed the energy beam straight back at Maddie.

She only spotted the blast returning at the last second. Flipping backwards to avoid it, Maddie landed on her feet at one end of the lab. Vlad hovered at the other end.  
"Shall we call it a stalemate?" he asked, his voice gently teasing. "You've given me quite the run for my money. Any lesser ghost would have fallen before you." He grinned. "Or, fallen for you, like I did."

"You are a _monster_," Maddie said, watching for any more incoming attacks. "How many people did you have to possess for your 'empire'? How low will you sink? You've already started making our son your pawn!"  
"Not pawn, no," said Plasmius, smiling again. "_Far_ more. Daniel's coming along quite nicely. Soon he'll be almost as powerful as me... with careful training on my part, of course."

Vlad's words startled Maddie enough she dropped the gun; it fell to the floor with a CLANG. "Y-you..." she said, eyes wide. "You didn't..."  
"Mm?" said Vlad.  
Maddie's shocked look submerged, replaced with one of pure hatred. "You— our son— _what did you do to Daniel?_"  
Vlad cursed, inwardly. He'd slipped up, but there was no point in denying it now. "Me? Why, nothing. However, you could say now he's half—"

_**"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHH!"**_  
Maddie didn't bother saying anything more. She ran at Vlad, screaming at the top of her lungs. She didn't bother with weapons or maneuvers, hitting him again and again until Vlad finally turned intangible.  
_"GET OUT!"_ she yelled. "GET OUT GET OUT GET OUT! NEXT TIME I SEE YOU IN HERE I WILL _**KILL YOU!**_ YOU— YOU—"  
There was nothing more to be said. Vlad swirled back up to the Tower above, as Maddie fell to her knees, fury giving way to sobbing.

Once Maddie was sure Plasmius was gone, she controlled herself, willing her tears away. There was no point to sadness now; for too long, she'd let herself grow comfortable in captivity in this gilded cage.  
Pulling aside some wreckage from the battle, Maddie opened the bottom drawer of a cabinet. Inside was the project she'd been working on, preparing for a day she hadn't known would come.

Carefully, Madeline Masters lifted a blue, hooded jumpsuit from the drawer, readying it so she could wear it to its full potential.  
It was time to escape the company of Vlad Masters.


	5. Part 5

**Eidolon Hill**

Vlad Masters looked around the plush, dark hallway, leading up to the plain black door. He smiled; Ms. Manson knew how to set an ambiance. He'd almost feel sorry about viciously wresting control of it and Eidolon from Samantha when the time came.

Almost.

Carefully keeping his left hand behind his back, Vlad padded up the stairs and opened the black door; this time, it made no sound.  
Shadows collected inside of the office, like in the hall; the sunny day outside was not welcome here.  
"Mr. Masters," said a voice from inside the room. "Please, come in."  
Sam's face was half-hidden in shadow; she smiled. "What brings you here today?"

Vlad slowly stepped into the office, shutting the door behind him. "Ah, Samantha," he said. "I merely wanted to apologize for my rude behavior the other evening."  
Sam kept up the smile. "Please," she said, voice tightening slightly as she heard 'Samantha'. "I think we've heard enough about the other day."  
Vlad's 'visit' was an obvious pretext. What was he up t—

"And to bring you these."  
From behind his back, Vlad extended a bouquet of black roses. They seemed to shimmer in the dim light of Sam's sanctum. Placing them gently on the desk, he turned and headed for the door.  
"I'll not keep you any longer," he said, smiling a secret smile.  
"W-wait!" said Sam, examining the roses. "Why... ?"  
Vlad was gone.

* * *

Sam brightened the room to look at the roses once she was sure Vlad was far from the office. His visit _had_ been a pretext, but this? Just what was Vlad Masters trying to _do?_

After he'd stepped into the elevator, Vlad held the CLOSE DOOR button to keep it inactive. Then, he waited for Daniel to appear, like they'd arranged.  
When his ghostly son appeared next to him, Vlad smiled. "Ah, Daniel," he said, "I see you're settling in to— what on earth are you wearing?!"  
"Black eyeliner, dad," said Daniel, shrugging. "It's part of the dress code, so I have to wear it."

Vlad took a second to breathe. "Hmm. What have you discovered so far?"  
"Not much," said Daniel. "I've been shoveling these old letters they have in the basement."  
"Have you opened any?" Vlad asked. It wasn't the most promising lead, but perhaps it would yield some information.  
Daniel shook his head. "It's almost all junk mail. And a few magazines. And piles of romance novels, for some reason..."

Vlad kept his expression neutral. He merely hadn't explained Daniel's job clearly enough to him. "Now that you've settled in, Daniel," he said, "here are what you need to do."  
Vlad couldn't count on his fingers— one hand was still pressed against CLOSE DOOR— but he gestured with his free hand. "First. Explore the building, invisibly. See if there's a lab or a research wing somewhere. And when you do, well... have a look at what they're up to."

Daniel nodded. "And the second thing, dad?"  
"Have a look at what the other employees are wearing, and see whether that 'dress code' of yours is real!"  
Daniel could tell that was all. As the elevator began to move, he flew down through Eidolon Hill.

* * *

It took Daniel an hour before he figured it out. Most of Eidolon Hill's workers dressed ordinarily... even casually. There was no sign of the 'soulless office drones' Ms. Manson had mentioned, either.  
Slowly, Daniel realized what Vlad had figured out in one glance: the 'Dress Code' had been a joke.

One change of clothes later, 'Inviso-Bill' was on the prowl again, searching for the R&D department. It, at least, was easy to find. It was on the other side of the wall from the Dead Letter Office! Anyone unable to phase through walls would have had a much longer path to follow.

And on the other side of the wall...  
"—you did _what?_" said Jasmine, looking around at the devices taking up all the space in the lab.

"Ever since that _ghost_ was here," Jack Fenton said, "I figured it'd be a good idea to make some anti-ghost weapons, to protect ourselves in case it comes back."  
"You mean 'Inviso-Bill'?" Jasmine said. "What makes you think he'll want to come back, with all these ghost weapons lying around?"

Jack Fenton raised one arm in the air and waved it about. "Then they'll have done their jobs perfectly!"  
Jasmine slowly placed one hand over her face.

While the two argued, Daniel eased himself into the lab, taking care to stay invisible. As Jack had promised, half the free space was filled with hastily cobbled-together devices, each presumably having some anti-ghostly purpose. It was hard to stop himself from asking, "What do all of these do?", but Daniel kept silent— it'd blow his cover, and then he'd probably find out what the things did from the wrong end.

"Seriously, though... what _is_ this?" asked Jasmine, pointing at what looked like two-thirds of a shiny metal robot.  
Daniel smiled, keeping his invisibility up— maybe he wouldn't have to ask after all. He floated closer to the device.

"I call it the Fenton Auto-Peeler!" Jack said, pointing at an aperture on the 'arm' of the thing. "It'll take apart, layer by layer... well, anything really. But it's supposed to be used on ghosts."

Jasmine squinted at it, looking at the control panel. Right where the belt buckle would be was a button marked 'ON/OFF'. That was all.  
"Wait," she said, "how are you supposed to control it?" There was too much machinery in the 'Peeler' to stand in, and there didn't seem to be any other sort of interface.  
"I'm glad you asked!" said Jack, coming over and pressing the 'ON' button. "It's the Fenton _Auto_-Peeler after all— so, it'll automatically home in on any ghosts in the area!"

The Peeler shivered into activity, perking up and scanning the room. "_Scanning for ghosts,_" a robotic voice said.  
Jack rested his arm on the Peeler's metal shoulders. "This baby'll keep looking until it finds anything. Or, until we turn it off. It's the perfect way to guard the lab!"  
Jasmine stared at the robot, intrigued despite herself. "So what exactly does it do when—"

The Peeler stopped scanning, focusing on a single point. "_Ghost detected,_" it said, turning and lifting its weapon.  
Daniel suddenly realized that it was aiming at him.

* * *

Danny leapt as the Peeler made its move, keeping his invisibility intact. A green scything blade of energy shot out of the device, missing Danny and hitting a gold bust of Jack Fenton sitting on a shelf.  
As promised, the blade _peeled_ the statue, trimming off layers of gold leaf and metal until all that was left was the base.

Danny looked back at the devastated statue. _Wow,_ he thought. _That's pretty dangerous._ The 'whirr' of the Peeler startled him again, and he zoomed away as another blade came at him. This one shredded a stack of papers, and the one after it—  
Daniel pulled up short as the second blade passed through the air he was about to fly into, collapsing a shelf of parts.  
_It leads its shots too?!_

Jasmine and Jack looked around frantically as the Peeler fired at something they couldn't see.  
"Did you make a remote for it?"  
"Why would you ever need a remote for the Fenton Auto-Peeler? All the smarts it'll ever need are right in there!"  
The Peeler decided it was time to change tactics, adjusting its aim. Both arms pointed at Jasmine; it fired before she could react. She opened her mouth to scream... and the Peeler blades bounced off her chest, spreading across a line of invisible duplicates Danny'd put up to distract it. The duplicates disintegrated into smoke, slowly becoming visible as they fell apart.

Seeing Jasmine's distress, Jack tried to calm her down.  
"Don't worry, Jazzy-pants! The Fenton Auto-Peeler's blade can't get through your jumpsuit."  
Jasmine closed her eyes and took a deep breath; across the room, a fume hood fell to pieces. "It would. Have been nice. To know that. _BEFORE IT SHOT ME!_"

Drawers spilled their contents; gadgets split in pieces. No matter which way Daniel dodged, the Fenton Auto-Peeler closed on him. Finally, there was only one way out: concentrating, Daniel merged back through the wall, into the Dead Letter office. Panting with the effort of the battle, Daniel turned back to human form. Letting himself fade back in, he started shuffling mail and tried not to think about what was going on on the other side of the wall.

FentonWorks was in shambles. Debris littered the floor from when the Peeler had started firing wildly. The machine now focused on the wall Daniel had flown through, buzzing in a way Jasmine was starting to recognize as 'thinking'. With a hum of high power, the robot fired at the wall, carving a hole in it; it jumped through, into the room beyond.

Jasmine looked at Jack Fenton, standing in the now-wrecked lab. It was hard for her not to fall over, but she stared at Jack Fenton.  
"You're removing the 'Auto' function," Jasmine said, crossing her arms.

Jack sighed. "...I'm removing the 'Auto' function," he said, sadly.

* * *

Daniel had ten seconds of relaxation before the Peeler burst through the wall like some evil Kool-Aid Man. "_Ghost detected,_" it said, leveling its weapons once again.  
Through the gap, Daniel could see Jack and Jasmine staring. He couldn't transform! They'd see him, and that would be it for Daniel Masters, 'superspy'— possibly in more ways than one.

Time to run. Danny dodged behind a pile of mail, heading for the door. The Peeler fired through it, shredding the mail. The only thing that saved Danny was reflexes, honed by long hours training under his father's direction. He leapt for the exit.

The Auto-Peeler saw Danny try to escape. Whirring, it tensed and jumped, cartwheeling in the air to land on its feet in the doorway— but Danny couldn't stop his leap, crashing into it. His training kicked in, and he grabbed at the thing, pulling himself up on top of it.

The robot didn't realize Danny was sprawled on it, whirring and whirling around as it tried to find the ghost it was looking for. Peeler bolts flew everywhere, sending piles of paper scraps tumbling. Danny looked down at the thing, trying to keep from getting dizzy. There had to be something he could do!  
Daniel saw the control panel, with its one switch. With one motion, he prodded the 'ON/OFF' button; then, the Auto-Peeler's twirling threw him off. Daniel slammed into the wall, blurrily seeing the Peeler's arms slow, aim at him... then stop.

Running feet, and the sound of concerned voices. Recovering from where he'd hit his head, Daniel saw two figures standing over him.  
"Are you all right?" Jasmine asked Daniel.  
"You stopped the Fenton Auto-Peeler without getting hurt?" came a louder voice. "Amazing!" Jack paused for a second as he thought. "Hey, maybe we could use him around the lab."  
"You're looking at an injured man you don't even know and you're thinking of hiring him? Isn't there _something else_ you should be thinking about?"

"Oh, right!" Jack Fenton bent down. "What's your name, son?"  
Daniel focused on Jack Fenton's faced, swimming back and forth in front of him. "I... I'm Danny," he said. His head and back ached.  
"Great!" Jack said. "Danny, you're hired."

Daniel didn't respond. He'd blacked out.


End file.
